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Court clears Activision deal with Vivendi

A Delaware court has lifted an injunction halting Activision Blizzard's plan to buy back a majority stake in the video game publisher from French company Vivendi. Last month, a U.S. court delayed the sale of

Court clears Activision deal with Vivendi

A Delaware court has lifted an injunction halting Activision Blizzard's plan to buy back a majority stake in the video game publisher from French company Vivendi.

Last month, a U.S. court delayed the sale of Vivendi's stake in Activision to allow non-Vivendi shareholders to vote following a lawsuit. Activision says the acquisition deal will be complete by Oct. 15.

Shares of Activision surged 4.5% in afternoon trading.

Activision announced in July it would buy back 429 million shares of the company from Vivendi for $5.83 billion. An additional 172 million shares valued at $2.34 billion would be acquired by Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and co-chairman Brian Kelly through an investment vehicle.

Once the $8.2 billion deal is complete, Vivendi will retain a 12% stake in the video game publisher behind blockbusters Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. The company is launching a new video game property with Halo creators Bungie titled Destiny next year.